Archive - 2013 - Sports Article

April 7th

April 7, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

SAN JOSE, CA-The Vermont Shamrocks defeated Potsdam, NY to become the USA Hockey Tier II U-16 Girls Champions on Sunday evening.
"After last night, there were two ways we could have responded," said coach Pat Burke. "Our kids were disciplined, mature and we made big plays when we needed to."
He continued, "I think the best part about this is that we are a community-based organization. We want our players to skate for their high schools and their local organizations.
"Our model is unique. The other teams are basically super-teams, with kids being plucked from their home towns.

April 7, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

SAN JOSE, CAâ€“It took three overtimes, but at 3:30 Eastern Standard Time, with exactly 8:02 on the clock, Cailee LaPorte's ninety foot dump in fooled the San Jose goaltender, sending the Vermont Shamrocks to the USA Hockey Tier II Girls U-16 National Championship game.
"The girls played every shift as hard as they could," said Vermont coach Pat Burke. "We got amazing goaltending from Courtney Peyko and Victoria Gibson, and in the third OT, the puck bounced out way.
"San Jose were an amazing group of athletes, by far the best team we've played all year."

April 6th

April 6, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

SAN JOSE, CA-The Vermont Shamrocks kicked off the quarter-finals with a 5-1 over Grand Rapids on Saturday morning.
Five different girls scored in the win, as the team was able to spread the scoring around, creating multiple threats that girls from Michigan could not contain.
Aliza Ellis opened up the scoring 3:20 into the first when she banged home the rebound from Jade Remillard's offering.
One minute and five seconds later it was Cailee LaPorte converting a feed from Rachel Morse, and Vermont took the 2-0 advantage into the break.

April 5th

April 5, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

SAN JOSE, CA-The U-16 Vermont Shamrocks took a 1-0 lead after one period, and turned it into a 9-1 win after three, as the green and white defeated Assabet, Ma with extreme prejudice on Friday evening.
"We are playing extremely well with a lot of energy," said assistant coach Dan Ellis. "We have so much diversity. We can go from one forecheck to another on the fly. Our girls are so smart that way."

April 4th

April 4, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

SAN JOSE, CA-For much of their game against the California state champion Lady Ducks, the Shamrocks looked like they were going to move to 1-1 at the National Tournament.
The girls had two goals called back, one in the first, another in the second, but this team would not be denied.
Morgan Lamos and Cailee LaPorte changed the fortunes of the green and white, as the pair each tallied a third period goal to give Vermont the 2-1 win.
Lamos was the first to strike for the Shamrocks.
Morgan tied things up at 1-1 with 11:07 left to go, but things would stay tight until the very end.

April 4, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

CRAFTSBURYâ€“Craftsbury Academy will have the smallest and youngest baseball squad in all of Orleans County this spring, but that is not a problem for coach Dan Locke and his players.
The Chargers will showcase a team that includes six sophomores, three freshman, two seniors and an eighth grader, and they could not be more excited to play ball.
The season gets underway April 25th when they travel to Concord.
Game time is 4:30.
for the full story, check out the Express on 4-5-13.

April 4, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

NEWPORTâ€“The 2013 North Country baseball team is going back to the basics.
Coach Brian Bonvechio's crew will look to get back to the fundamentals of America's favorite pastime as they prepare to face Vermont's top players in the ever tough Metro Division.
"This year we mad a real commitment to improving our defense, as well as our pitching staff," Bonvechio said. "We would like to think we are about five pitchers deep, and although we don't have a lot of depth, we are pretty strong defensively, we have a lot of speed and a little bit of pop in the middle of the order.

April 3rd

April 3, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

SAN JOSE, CA-The Vermont Shamrocks took the first step forward to their goal of winning a national title with a 4-1 win over the East Coast Wizards in their first game of the USA Hockey Girls U-16 Tier II National Tournament on Wednesday.
It looked like the ECW was (were) going to get the early advantage, but Courtney Peyko stood tall in the VT net, turning away an early penalty-shot.
The Shamrocks, motivated by the stop, won the race to the score board when Molly Dunphy kicked off the scoring late in the first period, clanging home the first goal of the game.

April 3, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

ORLEANSâ€“For the Lake Region softball program, the numbers are down in 2013.
Only eighteen players turned out this spring, so while he will not be able to field a JV squad while the varsity is in action, head coach Matt Tinker is excited about the team he has this season.

April 3, 2013

By

Mike Olmstead, Sports Editor

NEWPORTâ€“With only one senior and four juniors, the North Country softball team is going to have to rely heavily on their younger players as they set out for the 2013 season.
"I think the beginning of the season is going to be a test for us," said head coach Leslie Dunn. "Hopefully once we get a few games we will get into our groove, but we are still really young.â€ť
Dunn's crew will get a little pre-season test this weekend, weather permitting, when they head over to MVU for a softball jamboree on Saturday.